I really dislike leaving a place with a bad vibe. I understand that there are many people's jobs at stake, and I want to be fair, especially since we visited during the holidays. That said, the place was pretty empty, and we had just enjoyed a lovely holiday afternoon of shopping with our twin girls. We thought it’d be a nice treat to have lunch and a cocktail at the Nordstrom grill.
Honestly, I should’ve seen the signs—they hardly had anyone there, decorations were minimal and jankey, and the decor itself was pretty basic and dated. We figured, hey, it’s Nordstrom, it’s the holidays—surely it’ll be a good time. But it took almost 30 minutes to get our drinks. We finally waved down the manager, who kindly said she’d help, and our drinks arrived about half an hour later. We were tired and a bit hungry, but we appreciated her help, and she even offered to comp our drinks and desserts.
Fast forward an hour and a half, and we realize they only had one dessert left. The food was okay, the drinks were fine, but after two hours, all I wanted was to go home. We waited for that brownie dessert, the only one they had left, and knowing we had limited time to get to a holiday party, I told my husband to just settle the bill so we could leave. He did, but we still kept waiting for the dessert to go. When it finally arrived, we asked if we could take it to-go—as we’d originally requested. Of course, we waited some more.
Finally, I went to the restroom, and on my way back, I saw the manager, who didn’t even look at me. Our waitress returned half an hour after we’d ordered, apologized for the service delay, and explained she’d gone on break. #?
After such a lovely day shopping at Nordstrom, it all ended in frustration, exhaustion, and disappointment. With so many options at the Mall of America, Nordstrom should definitely rethink this offering. If they do decide to do holiday, they should make sure the grill matches the festive spirit of the mall, the store and the season—with great service, beautiful decorations, and music that makes guests feel welcomed, happy, and joyful after a busy day.
I’d advise others to absolutely skip this place. There are plenty of wonderful options outside in the mall—don’t waste your time and money here, especially since it was costly and, frankly, horribly disappointing. Very off brand for Nordstrom, I’d say.